Merchandise-display table



J. A. GROVER.

MERCHANDISE DISPLAY TABLE. I APPLICATION FILED OCT; 20, 1919.

1,412,207. Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

HTTOTPNEYL J. A. GROVER. MERCHANDISE DISPLAY TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20, 1919.

Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1 a nu n m 1 Mn iQ Jfl, G O

UNITED STATES:

PATENT- emee. 5)-

JOHN A. eaovna, or coLonAno sranves, coLoriAno;

MERcHAN'n-IsnmsP AY TABLE. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that 1, JOHN A. GRovER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Colorado Springs, in the county of El Paso and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Merchandise-Display Tables; and'I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of, this specificationf V This invention relates to mechanical means for presenting merchandise to a customer,

particularly such articles as rugs which, in the larger sizes, are quite awkward to handle, but which thecustomer always desires to see fully displayed, in order to get the effeet of the rug.

The principal object of this invention is to 7 provide. means for displaying a series of rugs of any size conveniently, easily and quickly, and permitting each rug to be displayed at an angle near to that at which it will be used (h orizontal), -this in contradistinction to the present methods of display, which, as far as I am aware, always display the rugs in vertical position which is often unsatisfactory to' the customer, since the coloring offthe rug is materially altered at times by the angle the light makes with the nap, this being particularly true in the higher priced rugs where the satisfaction of the customer is most desired by the seller.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism so that a number of rugs may be connected together and displayed to the customer one after the other, such mechanism including means for causing the series of rugs to pass :eitherforwardly or backwardly at will and also to regulatethe speed of travel of'the rugs so that the display will move at the same rate of speed in spite of the constantly increasing: diameter of the rugs on the driving roll. 7 I

A number of other objects of the invention will be apparent upon reading the detailed specification following and particularly as pointed out in the claims.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Apr, 1922, Application filed October 20, 1919. Serial m. 331,936.

addition normally requires "heavy bracing, due to the fact that it is not infrequent dur ing the exhibition of therugs to have all of themon oneside of the'pivot, making great stress on the trunnions. It has been suggested heretofore that it wouldfbeadvisable to display the rugs in horizontal position, but up to the present time nosuc'cessfulattempt has been made to do this, all ofthef mechanism in kindred arts requiring substantial modification 'to 'meet the require ments of this work and presenting obstacles which have not heretofore been overcome." V As will be seen from the drawings accom- V panying this specification, the present de-Yf vice exhibits therugsinfa nearly horizontal position'and in the refinements of the machine obviates all of the difficulties incident to such horizontal display. In the drawings,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of. the com plete device showing the relationof the op crating mechanism to the display shelf.

2 is a plan view of the driving mech Fig. 3 is a side elevation of such driving 5 mechanism-.

Fig. 4 1s a vertical section taken on the line JP-4 of Figure 2 looking in the direci tion of the arrows. V v

i Fig. 5' is a side viewof one of the rug connectors, j p In its. entirety, thisrug display device are wound, and in an extended shelf. ad-

consistsiii-a pair of casings housing the op, eratlng mechanism and prov ding journals justable asto' length over -which the rugs pass for display whenbemg wound from one roll tothe'other: As best seen in- Fig.

1, the rugs desired for display are connected together end to' end, each rug of thel'series 'being'of the same or approximately the same denoted as a whole by 14.

width, by any desired form of connection either by sewing or fastening together with loops of thread, or preferably by hinges made of two arc-shaped sheets of metal curved at a radius equal to the radius of the outer rug when the series of rugs is about evenly divided between the two rolls, each sheet having a hook whereby the rugs are hooked. Such a connection provides great flexibility and causes no wear on the rugs such as would be produced by the more usual forms of fastenings. The last rug of the series is then fastened in the same, or a similar way, to a web of strong serviceable material, such for example as an end of carpet tacked to the axle 1O of one of the rolls and all of the rugs then wound upon such roll. The rugs are then passed upwardly over the small guide roll 11 and then beneath a similar roll 12, directing the rugs over the shelf 13 of the display rack At the lower or front end of the display rack is a guide roll 15 directing the rugs back to the axle 16 of the other winding roll, the end rug of the series being fastened to this roll in the same manner as has been described in connection with the axle 10 of the upper roll.

It is preferable in the larger sizes to assist in the guiding of the rugs from roll. 15 to axle 16 by having a supporting belt such as 17 carried by the rolls 18 and 19 and driven by means of a sprocket wheel 20 on the shaft of roll 19 driven by a chain 21 passing over a driving sprocket wheel 22 on the shaft of the roller 15. It is also preferable to have the display rack extensible as indicated in Fig. 1, but no specific description of this feature is considered necessary, since this forms no part of the invention andis old and well known per se, although possibly novel in this connection. The axles 10 and 16 are supported respectively by split journal blocks 23 and 2 1 supported on a heavy beam 25 diagonally arranged in each casing, and these axles. beyond such split journal blocks, are provided with large sprocket wheels 26 and 27 driven respectively from pinion sprocket wheels 28 and 29 by chains 30 and 31.

The operating mechanism for these rolls is rather compact in form and forms a very essential portion of the present invention and is best'shown in its entirety. in Fig. 2 which, for ease of description,is spoken of as a front elevation, but as will be note from Fig. 1 just described, this mechanism is for convenience in operation and also to take up as little floor space as possible, arranged at an angle of about 15 degrees so that thepart denoted as up is not vertically upwarchbutactually slants upwardly and backwardly, with respect to a person viewing the display.

Sprocket wheel 28 heretofore mentioned is mounted on a shaft 32 journaled in bearings 31 (Fig. 2) carried by an intermediate cross piece and by a similar front cross piece 36, and is held against longitudinal movement by a shoulder or by any other usual means. Just inside of the front cross piece 36 this shaft carries loosely a gear wheel 37 having a clutch hub 38 connected thereto, the latter co-operating with an ordinary tapered clutch 39 feathered to the shaft 82 which at this portion is cylindrical but is threaded as at $0 from beyond the limit of'motion of the clutch 89 to a point near the inward journal 34.

Sprocket wheel29 is carried by a shaft 42 hereinafter called the lower driving shaft andv is associated with mechanism exactly similar to that just described in connection with upper driving shaft 32, these elements consisting in the journal boxes 1 1, loose gear wheel at? with its hub 18, and the jaw. clutch 19 feathered to the shaft 42, and slidable thereon into and out of engagement with the hub 48. One difference, however in these two mechanisms lies in the fact that the threads- 10 on the upper driving shaft 32 are cut right handed while the similar threads 50 on the lower driving shaft 42 are left handed, the purpose of this being that when the nuts 51 and 52 are moved by these threads when the device is in operation, they will both. travel in the same direction with respect to the front of the machine, as will be more fully hereinafter set forth.

Power for the operation of the device is provided by an electric motor or any other means, mounted in a cradle 54 in the rear of the operating mechanism framework, and carrying on its armature shaft 55 a worm 56 meshing with a worm gear 57 secured to the shaft 58 which carries feathered thereon a relatively smal friction pinion 60 slidable up and down the shaft 58 from'the top the framework to the center of the cooperating friction disk 61 driven thereby.

This friction disk 61 is arelatively large wheel and is secured to a central shaft 62 journaled in the, block 63, next to the disk 61 and supported at its other end by a thrust 7 bearing preferably of the ball bearing type, including a spring 61which maintains the disk 61 constantly in contact with the friction pinion 60 (see 2), except when such disk has been manually moved away .68 keyed thereto and constantly inmesh with the two gear wheels 37 and 17 which,

as will be remembered are loose on the driving shafts 32 and 42. The two clutches are controlled by a lcve from such pinion against the force of the 70 centrally pivoted and carrying on either side of such pivot, connections with-rods 71 and 72 carrying on their threaded extremities, the usual forks73 and 7 1, foroperating I the release of the other is by means of the hand lever 75 rigidlysecured to the lever 70 and having a hand grip 76 connected by means of .a rod 77. to a lever 78 pivoted to the hand lever 75 at its lower end, so that operationof the hand'grip 76 withdraws the bolt 80from one of the notches 81 of the retaining are 82, so that the lever 70 maybe moved about itspivot and alter the clutching of the two clutches mentioned. 7 w

i I The more usual mcthod of controlling the direction. of the travel of the series of rugs, is, however, an automatic means consisting of a cam wedge 83 carried by nut'51, on the upper driving shafta32 and by, a, similar but reversed cam 84rigidly secured .to one 'end of the small shaft 85 sliding in the frame work at its inner end and having its outer pivoted end carried by thenut 51 and by theforked end bracket 86 sliding on one or 1 the end pieces Of the frame work which thereby prevents rotation of the nut 51, al though offering no material obstacle to its longitudinal movement. Oneither side of a block 87 pivoted to the leverland slidably receiving-the shaft 85 are springs 90 and 91, resting loosely onthe shaft 85 'and' adapted to be ,compressedbetween the plate 92which carries the cam 84:,itnd' the block 87 and between the bracket 86 and such block 87, respectively. p I Plate 92 which carries the cam 84: is .held

to shaft 85 by a set screw which allows the adjustment of plate 92 along shaft 85 to any point. This being necessary when a rug iS added or removed;

. hen the seriesof carpets isbeing wound npontherolls the nut 51 will be carried by the right handed threads40toward the friction disk 61, and whenthe' point of the wedge cam 83 strikes the shoulder 9-3 of the pin it will earn the pin 80 downwardly against'the action of the spring 94 until it is withdrawn from the notch81. Continued motion of thenut 51 and its attached cam 83 will cause the spring 91 tobetightly compressed between the pivoted block 87 and the forward connection 95 of therod and when the pin 80 is completely released this spring will drive the block 87 toward the 1;; fr'i'ctiondisk 61 and iwillconsequently turn V H V .-ing the release of the clutch 39Y21I1Cl the throwing in of the clutch 19, thereby changthe lever 70 about its pivot; this action cau's ing the direction of travelof the rugs. On the reversemovement of the rugsthe nut 51 moves in the opposite direction due to the motion of unwinding the rug which reverses l down the pin 80 and the spring will throw a the block 87 and'with it the lever 70 into'po sition to again reverse the direction-of travel of the merchandise being exhibited? It' shoud be noted here that the hand lever 7 5 may be used at any time to reverse the direction so that if a rug which pleases a customer has. been passed it merely requires the manipulation ofthis lever to bring such rug back to. central position on the display rack, and when the customer has been satisfied thehand lever is again'reversed, causing the previous movement to be we tinned. i V I g 1 Just to therear of the friction' disk; 61 is located afpairjof guide rods 96 and 97', the former of which carries a sliding block98 connected to the nut 51 by means of a link 99, a bell crank lever 100, and an adjustable connection 101 from the latter to the block 98; so that when the nut 51 approaches the friction disk 61, the block 98'will be raised} Onthe other guide rod 07 is.,asimilar block 102 which is connected in quite a simi} lar manner to the n'ut. 52 by link 103, bell crank lever 104 and the link 105 connecting the latter to the-block 102, so that when the nut 52 advances toward the friction disk 61, which by virtue of'the fact that it is travel ing on left-,hand'threads will be simultaneous with the advancejof thepnut '51, the block 102 will belowered on its guiderod:

97, so, that the two blocks -98 and 102. will always be working in." opposite directions although these blocks willnot travel atthe eration of the blocks'atdifferent speeds, due to therdifierence in diameter ofv the material wound on the rolls. 4

short periodrat eaclr'revolution. The segmental pulley 106' (which maybe a cam'if desired) -is slid-ably secured on'the' shaft 58 of the pinion 60 alonglthe shaft 58jfor'a as is also the friction pinion 605 and asmall spring 107 is mounted on the shaft 58 between thepinion and the pulley in order to keep them somewhatg sep arated. The small are 108 of'the segmental pulley his off the pinion '60, but the remainder the pulleyv 108 of the pulley 106 so that at alltime's one 120 'same diameter themajorfportion.offithe 7 same rate of speed,-jjon account of theop-j the roll. In such a case by raising the dog,

the drive pinion- 60 is perfectly free to be shifted up or down the shaft 58, if not otherwise held. iVhen the pulley 60 is shifted up the shaft the spring 107 is compressed when the part 108 is in contact with the disk 61, and immediately thereafter, the pulley 106- now being free, is urged up the shaft by the spring, this action being. repeated at every revolution of the shaft 58 until the drive pinion 60 is released. The drive pinion 60 has an extended hub in which is loosely fitted anon-rotating collar 118 which is held in spaced relation to the pinion 60 and forms the means for shifting thesame up and down the shaft 58, a handle 118 preferably integral with the arm of the collar 118 being provided for convenient manual shiftingof the drive pinion.

Each of the blocks 98 and 102 carries on the side, facing the other block a pivoted dog pressed downwardly by a spring 110 against a stop 111 on the block. The dog on block 98 is numbered 112 in the drawing and the similar dog on block 102 is designated 113. A block 116 which extends from guide rod 96 to guide rod 97 and slides on both carries two similar parallel fingers 115 in such position as to lie in the path of movement of dogs 112 and 113. This block 116 isheld on either of the guide rods by a set screw 117, by means of which it can be secured in proper place to release either the dog 112 or the similar dog 113, as it reaches the proper height.

Referring now to Fig. 4, it will be seen that these dogs are in position to engage against the forked collar 118 on the pulley 106. On first touching this collar 118, the dogs will rise against the spring 110 by reason of their beveled surface 119, but will later drop into locking position on such col lar by means of the rectangular shoulder 120 and will then drag the pulley 106 up the shaft 58 until the dog comes in contact with the fin er 115 which will release the collar 118 ant will allow the pulley to work back by gravity to its original position.

It will be noted that the nearer the pinion 60 is to the center. of the disk 61. the faster will be the speed of the rugs. This may be taken advantage of in case, for example, it is desired to exhibit one of the rugs that is known to be somewhere near the inside of 112 or 113, as the case may be,.the pinion 60 will work down the shaft 58 .until it comes to its original position and it will remain there until the machine is reversed,

consequently brin ing the desired rug quickly to view. a hould speed control he desired before the machine is reversed, the pinion 60 may be shifted up the shaft 58 by means of the rod. 114, this causing the collar 118 to catch on one of the dogs.

What IS claimed is: 1. In a rug exhibiting device, a display rack, a plurality of rolls journaled in said rack, a plurality of rugs, means for detachably connecting the rugs to each other and to the rolls to form a connected series, a substantially horizontal display shelf, and

the rolls to form a connected series, a substantially horizontal display shelf, and

means. for operating each of said rolls alternately to cause the series of connected rugs to pass oversaid shelf.

3. In a rug exhibiting device. a display rack, a plurality of rolls journaled in said rack, a plurality of rugs, means for detachably connecting the rugs to each other and to therolls to form a connected series, a substantially horizontal display shelf, and

means. for operating said rolls to cause said series of connected rugs to pass over said shelf and for automatically reversing the direction of'movement of said rugs.

4. In a rug exhibiting device, a display rack, a plurality of rolls journaled in said rack, a plurality of rugs, means for detachably connecting the rugs to each other and to the rolls to form a connected series, a substantially horizontal display shelf, means for operating, said rolls to cause said series of connected rugs to pass over said shelf and for automaticallyreversing the direction of movement of said rugs at any chosen point, .and manually controlled means for reversing the direction of the travel of the series at will.

5. In a rug exhibiting device, a substantially horizontal shelf,v a plurality of rolls, an article to be displayed connected to said rolls and passing over said shelf, a guide roll at one end of said shelf, an endless beltfor supporting said article between said shelf and one of said rolls.

6.-In a rug, exhibiting device, a substantially horizontal shelf, a plurality of rolls,

an article to bedisplayed connected to said rolls and passing over said shelf, a guide rollat one end of said shelf, an endless belt for supporting said article between said shelf and one of said rolls, and means oper-' atively connecting said guide roll and said endless belt.

7. In an exhibiting device, a pair of rolls,

'means for driving said rolls, a shelf, a guide 7 roll at one end of said shelf, and means for passingfrom rolls.

supportingthe article tobe exhibited when 8 In connection with aplurality of rugs, means for; "fastening: the rugs tog-ether end toend, and hinged means for displaying such connected series of rugs in a substantially horizontal plane. Y

9. In a rug exhibiting device, a'pair of rollers, a series of rugs secured at either end to one of said rollers, means for Winding said series of rugs on either roller at will, and means tending to equalize the speed of travel of the series irrespective of the diameter of material upon either roller.

10. Ina rug exhibiting device, a pair of 'rollers, a series of rugs secured at either end to one of said rollers, means for winding said series of rugs on either roller at Wlll,

means tending to equalize the speed of travel of the series irrespective of the diameter of material upon either roller, and means for automatically reversing the direction of travel of the series at a chosen point.

11. In .a rug exhibiting device, a pair of rollers, a series of rugs secured at either end to one of said rollers, means for winding said series of rugs on either roller at will, means series irrespective of the diameter'of material upon either roller, means for automatically reversing the direction of travel of the series slidably mounted on said drive shaft and adapted to alternately engage said I friction disk, automatic means for moving said members longitudinally of said shaft, and manually controlled means for moving said members on said'shaft.

14. In an exhibiting device, a plurality ofvshafts, .a gear Wheel loosely mounted on each shaft, a clutch splined to eachshaft, a right hand threaded portion on one shaft and a left hand portion on the other shaft, a nut on each shaft, a drive shaft, a pinion on said drive shaft meshing with both of said gear Wheels, a source of power, gearing connecting said source of power with saidv drive shaft, said gearing including a friction pinion and a friction disk driven thereby and mounted on said drive shaft, means governing the position of the friction pinion saidgu'ide roll'to one of said 3 matic :means for movin f'means. tending to equalize the speed-0f travelof the V with relation to the centerof thefrictioii' disk, and means connecting said nuts with said. control means.. i

15. a drive Shae, a friction disk" thereon, a threaded. shaft, gearing connecting said threaded-shaft with said drive shaft,

a nut carriedby said threaded shaft, a drive pinion'engagiiig With'said friction diskand 1 movable radially thereto, and means "governed by the position OfSZLlCl nuton; said threaded shaft for altering the position of said drive pinion with respect to the center of said friction disk. c v V 16; In an exhibiting device, a drive shafta plurality of, threaded shafts parallel thereto, a gear loosely mounted -oneacliiof said threaded shafts, a pinion on said drive mounted gears, means for clutching each gear to its respective shaft, and adjustable means for unclutching one of said gears and for clutching theother of said gearsat any, chosen point.

shaft meshing Withboth of said loosely 17. In a drive mechanism, a friction disk,- a'

friction opinion driving said. disk, autosaid drive pinion radially of said disk, and m'anually co'n said pinion Without effecting said automatic 18; In a rug exhibiting device, a display tion pinion driving same, means for re n dering said friction pinion inoperative, and

independent means for Withdrawing said tion pinion. V V 19. In a rug exhibiting device, a display shelf, a plurality of rolls, a plurality of trolled means for; alteringtlie position of friction disk from contact With said fricdetaohably connected rugs connected to "said rolls, means for guiding said rugs over said shelf, means for automatically reversing the direction of travel of said rugs,cmeans for manuallycreversing the direction of travel of said rugs, means for rendering the entire rug moving 7 mechanism inoperative, independent means for rendering a portionjof said mechanism; inoperative topermit a chosen rug to remain stationary. on "the display shelf, means for automaticallyincreasing the speed of travel of said; series Qfrugs 'when in a given'direction, and means independent thereof for causing said series of rugs to travelat maximum speed in, the same direction without effecting said an; tomatic speedcontrol means 7 V 20.7111 an exhibiting device, autoinatic mechanism for causing the article tofbe ex.

hibited to move forward and then back-' 7 chosen point of reversal, adjustable means I for altering the position'of'reversal at tlie other end ofthe 'travel'of the article, and

WVflICl for exhibition, means for altering the means independent of each of said means for manually altering the direction of movement of the article to be exhibited at any point in its travel, and additional means independent of each and all of said previously mentioned means for rendering temporarily inoperative Stud article moving means.

JOHN A. GROVER'Q 

